This is a condom!. Now I would hope this whole class knows what it is and how it works by now. See not only does it prevent sexually transmitted diseases. But it also prevents these things. So why am I up here today standing behind a picture of a harmless child? Because we must face the hard truth. There are 7.8 billion people on earth. 195 countries and 10,000 cities. Not only that, 8.7 million different species share that space. Earth is overpopulated, the increasing pressure on the planet’s limited resources shows us an unsustainable future. Our harmless actions are killing each other and we have to recognize it before it’s too late. Can I just see a show of hands who wants children in the future? Now keep your hand up if you personally would like to conceive them. This is the problem we are facing, with more and more people being brought into the world and fewer families willing to adopt or foster children, We are breeding like rabbits with the thought of the future behind us.
Global population has risen so fast in the last century that 14% of all human beings that have walked this earth are still alive today, that is a terrifying statistic. By around 2024 India is set to overtake China in population numbers, while Nigeria which is currently the seventh-highest populated country will surpass the United States and become the 3rd more populated country by 2050. While fertility levels in 1st world countries are declining, 3rd world country’s rates are increasing drastically. Thomas Malthus a name that I bet none of you have ever heard before, a man that was so significant but was silenced by his own society. He warned us about overpopulation in the 18th century. He knew the rapid growth was completely unsustainable and if we were to continue to live with one another we had to begin the fight straight away.
More people means more carbon footprints, more transport, more emissions, more waste, more housing, more infrastructure, more mouths to feed, more energy usage, more food production. To name a few. So where do we draw the line? How many is too many? Part of the problem varies across the globe on our resource consumption. For example, an average middle-class American consumes around 3.3 times the subsistence level of food and around 250 times the subsistence level of drinking water. So if this was the case and everyone lived a middle-class life and consumed that exact amount the globe would have the capacity to fit 2 billion people. However, if everyone consumed only what they needed we could fit much more. But this isn’t the case. So what are our options now that we are reaching a point of overpopulation?
China has already set the example.
A one child policy amongst families.
If families were only allowed to have one child then birth rates would decrease significantly. Those that struggle to support their large family numbers will excel without the burden of trying to feed every family member. This law that would be in every country around the globe could be the solution to our problem, our goal in carbon neutralizing the planet would happen. By numbers alone, China’s one-child policy has been said to be the most successful population control initiative ever. Let’s follow by example, take charge and save this planet. If you don’t think we should have a one-child policy amongst families then you are okay with innocent people dying. You are okay with poverty and you are okay with global warming.
Another solution we could use to get the population down to a controllable level has already happened before our eyes.
A virus.
The coronavirus has taken us all by storm, the sheer damage that it has done, people only think about the negative effects. Although on this day 9.18 million people have died they were mostly the elderly and had already lived their lives, this dramatic drop in population has seen all positive effects on our environment. Greenhouse gas emissions have dropped, our carbon footprints stopped, and 9.18 million less contribute to global warming. If we were to say every 100 years release a virus big enough but controllable enough to bring the population down to a sustainable level then why not? It would target those with lower immune and respiratory systems. A plague known as the black death lingered on for centuries and killed 25 million people in the 14th century, at the time that was 60% of Europe’s population. The Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 is known as the deadliest in history infecting a third of the world’s population and killing more than 50 million. Pandemics that kill off a large number of populations have acute and lasting effects on society and the environment. Depopulations are socially transformative. For those who survived plagues life, in general, was better, improving job opportunities, lifestyle living, and housing and traveling. Does this not sound like paradise? it sure does to me.
You all know the movie Wall E? Wall E. The lovable robot who lives on Earth after the human race has fled to space after destroying their planet. A robot has been left to clean up the mess humans had made. Do we want this to be our future? Are we not going to do anything about this and then bring robots into the picture like come on. Robots can’t clean up our mess, we have to.
Senicide
A historical practice that included the mass killing of the elderly and the weak as they were seen as not necessary for the survival of a village. If we brought this practice back to life in modern society we would not need to worry about the overpopulation and economic stress of housing old people. Those that did not meet the standards of an ideal being were to be slaughtered. Think of it more as a “sacrifice”. Everyone in this room should be willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of other people, I would not think any less of you.
Why do we think the theme of overpopulation in movies draws audiences in so much? Because we are facing the same problem, we can relate to these motion pictures in one way or another.
In Avengers infinity war how was Thanos seen as the bad guy? He spoke nothing but the truth. He knew what overpopulation felt like and he finally did something about it. Ok maybe wiping out half of the population isn’t the answer but he was the only one that recognized the problem and tried to find a solution. He quotes “This universe has limited resources… if life is left unchecked, life will cease to exist. It needs correcting” Maybe we should stop placing a villain role on those that expose the human race and instead listen to them.
Today I have discussed three efficient ways to control the Earth’s population, if we were to implement them all we would have hoped to see a sustainable future for our children and their future relatives. But the truth is the pace of Earth’s population growth is so quick that even restrictions on children, diseases, and senicide will still leave the world with too many people for it to sustain. Earth is dying and you’ve heard it here first. Thank you.